Driving at Night on Dark Roads
Driving your car at night can pose more hazards than driving during day. The dark of night can reduce visibility, making it more difficult to spot pedestrians, road signs and even other vehicles. There are also many roads throughout Ireland that don’t have any streetlights.
Fear not, you can take a number of steps to make driving at night safer...
How to Make Night-time Driving Safer
Clean Your Windscreen
Before leaving on your journey, make sure your windscreen is clean. It may seem obvious, but very often people drive with smudged or dirty windscreens.
Check Your Lights
Check your lights before setting off. Do they work properly? Are they clean? Are they aligned? Out of line headlights are less effective and can dazzle oncoming traffic.
Increase Visibility
Always turn on your headlights as soon as the sun goes down. Dipped headlights are usually good enough for nighttime driving in towns and cities. Sometimes, it will be necessary to turn on your high beam headlights on dark roads. However, these lights should only be used when there are no cars approaching.
If an approaching car dazzles you with their full headlights, you can avoid the dazzle by looking down towards the verge of the road. Slow down and pull in if it is safe to do so, and always look out for pedestrians or cyclists approaching.
Slow Down
Slowing down will also make it easier for you to drive on dark roads at night. Drive at a speed at which you feel comfortable and in control of the car. On an unlit road and in good driving conditions, the headlights of a typical car will let you see for about 100 metres. Dipped headlights will let you see for 30 metres only, and it takes a car travelling at 100km per hour just one second to cover that length.
Breakdown Assistance
As one of the many features and benefits of our car insurance cover, we provide 24-hour breakdown assistance* that provides 24-hour roadside assistance, including home start 365 days a year. Breakdown assistance includes:
- Mechanical breakdown.
- Flat battery.
- Fire.
- Attempted theft.
- Malicious damage.
- Punctures.
- Lost keys, stolen keys, keys broken in the lock or locked in the vehicle.
*Breakdown assistance covers three call-outs maximum per year.
For further information, please refer to the policy booklet.
Car Insurance With Liberty
Whatever journey you undertake, be it a short drive to the local shop or a tour of Ireland's west coast, it's important that your trip is backed up by great car insurance. At Liberty, we offer custom-built cover, fast claims and up to 25%* off when you quote and buy your car insurance online.
